*Trigger Warning*
"Damn it," I say as I look at the time. It feels like Jon and I had just started talking on Skype, and yet, over three hours had gone by. "I have to go to work."
"Is it really four already," Jon asks in disbelief.
"Yeah, but I don't want to go."
"You could call out. You said you still have a lot of homework to do for your classes."
I sigh as I look back to the open taps on my laptop. He was right. Since Brock had pushed for me to get through my classes faster the other students, I've actually been getting a lot more work than I thought a freshman would ever get. However, I am now a semester ahead of normal high school freshmen, and I will be working on this stuff later. Plus, Panda still doesn't know about me going back to school.
So I shake my head. "No, I need to get the money. If I'm going to be going to college, I'm going to need all the cash I can get."
"Alright babe. Just don't over work yourself. I don't want to hear about you fainting at work."
I smile at him and say, "I'll be fine, babe. Hey, when were you and Luke going back to North Carolina?"
"We'll be leaving on Wednesday."
"You two behind," I smirk.
"Shuch up, babe. We just got a lot less done with these stupid projects than we thought we would have done."
"Shuch up," I laugh.
"Don't make fun of the way I talk!"
I laugh again, shaking my head. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"Alright. Good night, babe. Love you."
"I love you too."
We end our call and I save the work I had done before I jump out of the chair I had been sitting on and I quickly get ready for work. Once I'm ready, I walk out and lock the door behind me, but stop when I hear yelling upstairs.
"Stop fucking lying to me! Why do you want to be a fucking whore so badly?!"
"I'm not a whore! I'm a fucking bartender!"
"Then why can't I come see you at work!"
"It's against the rules for us to date customers. I don't want either of us to get in trouble."
"Is that the real reason?! Or is it so I don't walk in and see you grinding on some guy?!"
"I don't do that! How many times do I have to say that?!"
"If you're just a bartender, then there shouldn't be a reason I can't go!"
"I'm not the one who made the rule! Look, I need to go to work, just please leave!"
"Oh what?! Now I can't wait here for you to come back!"
"I don't get off until three! Just go back to your apartment! I'll call you tomorrow!"
"How will I know that you're going to come here and not some John's place?!"
"I swear to fucking God! You're being ridiculous!"
"I'm not being ridiculous! You're just being an unfaithful, disgusting little whore!"
"I swear to god, call me a whore one more tim-"
My heart stops and I feel my blood turn cold when I then hear a loud smack that practically echoes throughout the courtyard. Everything then turns silent, and fear slowly grows in my heart as I wait to hear something, anything. My guess is that a few seconds go by before I hear one of the guys saying, "I'm so sorry."
I then jump when I hear running coming from around one of the corners and I hear another person yell, "Get the fuck away from him!"
My heart races as I hear screaming and yelling, threatens and pleads. As the yelling starts to move away, my eyes follow the footsteps until they get to the stairs. Then, I finally see some of the sources of the screams. Some blond with long, crazy hair is getting pushed away, and Marcel is the one doing the pushing. Once I see them go to the parking lot, I quickly run to the stairs and jump up to the second floor, where I see Smitty leaning against his door with his hand on the side of his face.
I run over and gently put my hand on his shoulder. He jumps, but when he sees me, he starts crying. "Smitty, what happened? Who was that?"
He starts talking, however, because he is crying so hard, I can't understand a word he's saying. I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly, rubbing his back lightly as I shush him and try to calm him down.
After a bit, I hear someone running over, and when I look behind me, I see that it's Marcel. When he gets to us, he kneels down and has Smitty look at him, and by this time, he's more calm than when I had first gotten to him.
"What happened," Marcel asks him.
Through his tears, Smitty tells us, "That was my boyfriend, John. Ever since I told him about the rules of the club, he's been a bit jealous. He doesn't understand why he can't go over to see me, and he had this idea that I wasn't just a bartender."
"So that's why I heard him calling you a whore," I accidentally say out loud.
"That's not the only reason," Smitty continues, turning to me. "A few weeks ago, someone went to a guy's place, and I had him send me the address to the place for safety. John saw that text and he thought I was getting the address to some guy's house for me."
I feel my heart stop. I know what he's talking about. That's the address I sent him when I went to see my Jon.
"I told him that it was for a friend seeing a new boyfriend, but he didn't believe me. Since then, he's been calling me all these horrible things and arguing with me about this. He's never touched me like this before though."
"One time is more than enough though," Marcel says in a strict tone. "You need to break up with him."
"What?"
"Lucas, he hit you! No matter what happens, even if you two are in the middle of a fight, even if he was on drugs or drunk, even if he was under so much stress and you just pissed him off for whatever reason he pulled out his ass, no one, man or woman, should ever put his hands on you!"
He looks down and shakes his head. "But this was the first time and we were so happy before... I was hoping-"
"You love the man you met," Marcel interrupts. "You loved the man you talked for hours and planned a future with. But do you think that man would have put his hands on you like that?!" Smitty slowly shakes his head. "If you love someone, Lucas, you don't hit them or cut them down. I heard the way he talked to you, and even if you were a stripper, which you aren't, you don't deserve to be call any of that."
The tears start to dry on his face. "He came all this way to be with me though."
"That doesn't mean you owe him anything. He came here to be with you, yes; but you didn't start your relationship to be smacked around and called a whore."
He nods and says, "Okay. I'll break up with him after work."
"Do you still want to go," I ask.
He looks back to us and nods. "Yeah. I need something to get my mind off of this."
Marcel nods and says, "I'll drive you. I don't want to risk that bastard trying to stalk you or anything."
"He wouldn't do that."
"Lucas, we thought Ryan wouldn't do that either. Or Jake, or Nic, or Max, or-"
"Okay, I get it! Okay... I'll go with you."
The three of us stand up and walk back downstairs together. I keep with Smitty while Marcel leads us to the cars, scanning the parking lot to make sure John isn't here. Once both Smitty and I are in the cars, I wait for Smitty and Marcel to start driving before I follow after them.
The drive felt much heavier than normal, but it's really to be expected after what had just happened. What I just saw. What Marcel said.
"Even if he was on drugs or drunk."
My dad... When he was high, he never hit my mom... Did he? I don't remember. How bad did she have it when it was only him on heroin? Did she get beaten? I remember her crying, but I don't remember seeing bruises or red marks. What happened before my mom got addicted? What happened after? Is she okay now?
My mind keeps racing up until we pull into the parking lot of the club. Once we get to the parking lot, Marcel leads Smitty and I inside, making sure we went in before him and shutting the door behind him. I look over Smitty to see how red his face is, and sigh when I see that it's still bright red.
I quickly run over to Chilled and ask him to borrow some of his make-up. After a bit of denying he has it, he hands it over and I lead Smitty to the couch. I then start going through it, trying to figure out what to use, but eventually, Chilled walks over, pushes me out of the way, and covers up the red mark on Smitty's face for us.
Afterwards, Marcel, Smitty, and I change into our uniforms and go to the front, getting started with our work. As we set up for the night, I do all I can to cheer up Smitty. After an hour, Panda comes out and asks for everyone to come to the stage so he can tell the schedule for the dancers.
It's finally then when Smitty looks over to me and smiles. "I know you are worried, but don't, Evan. Even though I really love John and it... It really hurts me that he's changed. It hurts me that he isn't the man I met online anymore." He shakes his head and smiles again before he says, "I'll get over it. I know I will, and I know that I can find someone better."
"At least you're able to realize that," we hear someone say as they walk over to the bar. We look and see Brock walk over and lean against the bar and look straight at Smitty. "Marcel told me what happened. Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine."
"It may not be that much better, but you know you'll have a better chance at meeting a decent guy away from here."
"I'm starting to think that."
"Wait," I interrupt. "Moo, have you been trying to get Smitty to quit here too?"
"Yeah," he tells me. "Even if he was nineteen when he started working here, I didn't want him to have to go through any of the bullshit we've gone through. However, he was like you when he started. He didn't see anything wrong with the club."
"That was until I saw the dancers getting stalked, I had a stalker, and the harassment. Mix that with the shit show from the drugs and I started hating it here."
"You hate it here," I ask him.
"Well, I guess hate is a strong word, but there has been so much shit happening here for the longest time, and Panda wanted us to hide it from you, but there's only so much we could hide. Even the little bit of bullshit you had to go through was getting to me. Then, when Bryce died and Ohm left, it started getting to me even more. Now this... I honestly don't know how much more I can take."
Before any of us can think of what else to say, we all snap our heads to the stage as Panda yells for us to go join the others. We do as he says and line up, letting him call out the schedule. After he's done, he looks up to us and says, "Now, I'm sure you all are aware that business has slowed down a bit since we lost Bryce and Ohm, and it has dropped a bit more with Lui taking more days off. So, I am taking a bit of a risk with this move, however, I believe this could be a good move for us."
"What do you mean," Brock asks, raising an eyebrow.
"What I mean is, as of today, we have two new members for our little family. Everyone, I want you all to meet Scott and Steven."
We look to the stage and see two men walk out from backstage. The second I see them, I recognize them right away. They were the the same guys that Panda had shown me in his office. I smile when I see Steven nervously look around at the other dancers. His innocent look seems to match his personality.
After explaining who the two are and what they would be doing, the dancers and servers split up and go their separate ways so they can get ready for the doors to open. I look up towards the stage and watch as Scott and Steven jump off the stage and look around, obviously confused by what they should be doing.
I smile and decide to at least try to make them feel a little less nervous by at least giving them a friend. So, I walk over to them and say, "What's up, guys. Welcome to the club." They both look to me and smile. "I'm Vanoss; one of the servers, or drink boy as some of the guys here call us."
"Wait," Scott says, raising an eyebrow. "Vanos? Like the car part?"
I laugh and says, "Yeah, that's where I picked up the name. That's just my nickname. Something you guys will need to come up with before the customers come in. My real name is Evan Fong."
"Wait, what was that," Steven asks, leaning closer to me.
I blink and take a step back before I say in hint of confusion in my voice, "Evan Fong?"
He shakes his head and looks away before saying in a low voice, "Evan Fong? I feel like I've heard that name before."
I raise an eyebrow and am about to ask something, but I stop when Smitty walks over and wraps his arm around me. "Well, the club is about to open, so let's get ready for the night. Scott, I want you to follow me so I can introduce you to the drink menu. Steven, you'll have to find Mini, and he will show you around backstage."
"Why don't I just do that," I suggest, admittedly wanting to talk to the guy I had hired. "I mean, Scott does have experience as a server, so I think he can cover me as I show Steven around and introduced him to the other dancers for an hour or two. Besides, Mini goes up right after Moo opens."
Smitty looks over to Scott, who shrugs and smiles before Smitty sighs and turns to me. "Alright, just make it fast. I don't want you dumping all of your work on the new guy."
"I won't." I then start walks, grabbing Steven's arm and pulling him after me. He quickly picks up speed and keeps up with me as I lead him to the hallway in between the stage and the stairwell. I then just lean against the wall and smile at him. "We have about two minutes before the club actually opens, so we have some time to relax before I can take you back there."
"What?"
"Well, the dancers all do things to give themselves energy to work, and I'm not sure how you feel about this type of stuff, but me personally, I don't like to see it."
"Wait, are you saying that all of the dancers here do drugs?"
"Not exactly. Some don't. Some drink, others drink energy drinks like its water. It's all to give them energy I guess."
"Do you do anything."
I shake my head. "Before, just being here was all I needed. Now," I start, feeling my face start to heat up. "It's my boyfriend. Just talking to him before I come in, seeing him on my days off and seeing him whenever I have a bad day, it's all I feel like I need to get me going." I look to him and ask, "What gets you through the day?"
He bites his lip and looks to the floor. "I don't know. I never really had to do something to get me through a bad day."
"What made you decide to come here?"
He keeps his eyes on the floor before he sighs and says, "When I first went to school, I dropped out because of a bad break up, which triggered my depression. I want to go back, but I don't have as much money as I use to. I need to work to get more, and well, I heard this was one of the best gay strip clubs in town, and that its always busy."
"You heard right, and don't worry. We have two other guys who work here for the same reason."
He looks up and smiles at me. "How long have you worked here?"
"Two years in June."
"What made you come here?"
"It's kind of a long story."
He looks over to the door that leads to the stairwell before he looks over to me. "How well do you know the boss?"
"Panda? I guess pretty well. He has been showing me how to run things behind the scenes."
"He has?"
"Yeah. Actually, he asked me to take a look at your resume before he hired you."
His eyes widen when he hears me say that. "Seriously?"
"Yup. Anyways, what are you going to go by?"
"Go by?"
"Yeah. I mean, you are a dancer. So, what's your stage name going to be?"
He thinks for a minute before he says, "I think I'll go by 'ZeRoyalViking'. Viking is my last name, according to my family, I have royal blood somewhere in me, and ze-"
"I get the ze," I laugh. "Hmm, Ze. That sounds like a good nickname. And I'm sure Jay could come up with a amazing way to introduce you before you start dancing."
"Welcome to the Big Bad Panda Club, gentlemen," we hear from the other side of the door. "I hope you are all ready for the show. Tonight, we're starting with an oldie but goodie. He's here to show the new boys how to make everyone scream his name all night long. Let's hear it for our first lovely dancer of the night, Moo Snuckel!"
I roll my eyes and shake my head. "That sounded a bit rude," Ze says, raising an eyebrow.
"It's a weird thing. For some reason, the biggest thing about Moo is the fact that he's our oldest dancer. He started here when he was, twenty-five, twenty-six. He's in his thirties now, which is old in stripper years. But, he still looks good, so people still want him."
"This is a lot to take in."
"You'll be getting a shit ton of money if you're good, so don't worry. It will all be worth it." I push myself off of the wall I was leaning and grab his arm. "Come on; it's time to meet the other dancers."
I pull him into the back room and instantly start introducing him to the other dancers. I stand back and let him start talking to the other. After a minute, he seems to become friends with everyone, but he mainly stays by Chilled and GaLm.
I'm then about to go grab him to show him the VIP rooms, but stop when I hear screaming coming from the front. I hesitate a bit before I push my way pass the curtains separating the two areas, and I feel my heart drop the second I see the stage. The second I see Moo on his back, seizing and foaming at the mouth.
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"Red, it isn't Friday!"
At this point, the schedule is just a suggestion.
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Hey Foxes!
Okay, this is something I've been thinking of doing for a while, but after what happened this week, I honestly don't feel that I have a choice now. For those of you who don't know, we had a bit of a scare earlier this week with this story.
Apparently, there was a bug in WattPad's system that deleted many writers' stories, including this one. For one or two days, this story had just disappeared, and I didn't even know it. I had thought that they had taken it down or something, and they didn't tell me like they did with MelonBread's stories a while back. Best part is that I wouldn't have even known that it was a bug if I hadn't followed them on Twitter.
I've thought about moving my stories over to another website for a while, however, after this scare, I honestly don't feel confident in WattPad anymore. So, this story will be the last full story I will post on this site.
I will finish it on here, however, when I start anymore stories, I will only be posting the first chapter to this site as advertisement or as a sampler, and the rest will be post on Ao3.
So, if you guys want to see any more stories from me, and more than just a teaser, then feel free to come follow me on Ao3!
I hope to see you all there, link to my Ao3 will be on my profile later today. I'll see you Foxes later! Bye!